our imminent (& terribly exciting) move

Ok friends, I just thought I should let you in on our moving plans. Yes, you all know we're heading out to lovely CA and that we're going to terribly miss CO. Now here's the breakdown. We (Miles & I) head out to meet my family in Vegas tomorrow for a week. I know, as if I didn't already have enough going on. But, it's going to be sweet - wouldn't miss it. Anyway, we get back the 22nd, pack like crazy, then leave for good on the 29th of July! Scott will be in and out until the 3rd.

Just in case I'm not able to see you all before I go, please know that I simply love Colorado and all the inspiring/ridiculously talented/basically awesome people I've met while living here. Since leaving home for college, I've never known another place to feel so much like home. We're going to miss you all terribly. loves~

the simple bouquet that sold our house

Our Sandy Getaway

Did I mention we went to Tahiti yesterday?

We were cruising around Babies R Us last night looking for a carseat upgrade for our ever-growing monster when this girl approached us. She wanted to take some pics of Miles for certification at the Kiddie Kandids across the store. I just hate to say no to someone looking to build experience ... even if I am morally opposed to such studio shots.

So, I ask for the black background and she just starts throwing in props. Of course I didn't have the heart to tell her she was making my son look ridiculous ... so we just went along with the insanity. There were choo choo trains and fluffy poking things and all sorts of wildness. Then, she was like "Let's go to the Beach!!". It was so hard to not bust up laughing. She straight up busts out the beach backdrop, foam rocks, a string fishing net, and toys!

Anyway, after a pitiful attempt to sell me $200 worth of photos, we got a free 8x10 and were on our way home.
I just about died laughing.

and, no, we did not buy a carseat

And the winner is ...

Well, friends, let the summer begin. First scraped up knees and sunburn of the year ... all occurring within about 30 minutes of each other.

Mother of the year, here I come!

did I mention ... ?

As a confessed & not-nearly-recovering chocoholic,
I am in heaven.


A few weeks ago Costco put Godiva gift cards out on the shelves ... marked 60% off!! I couldn't believe it, and Scott (performing his rockin hubby duties) seriously stocked up. So, the last few weekends we've ventured over to Park Meadows to take mini-adventures in the ways of chocolate. aaahhhhhh ... so good. My favorite so far is this one shaped like a little clam. The shell is hard chocolate and the monster pearl inside is of crazy-good hazelnut chocolate. Think: Nutella on HGH enveloped in delectable deliciousness.

Anyway, I highly recommend it.

What we've been up to

Aside from the whole selling-the-house thing, we've been enjoying the outdoors quite a bit lately. The last few weekends we've made a habit of heading out to the track. Our initial plan was to push Miles around in his jog stroller until he fell asleep, then get our workouts in. Well, it turns out Miles likes to pound the pavement (er, the rubber track) just as much as we do. Every few days he just shouts out "Go track!".
Ridiculous~

Yes, Miles took this pic! Finally, no more of those arm-length shots that inevitably end up cropped to one side. At long last, we have our own personal photographer. excellent.
Makin the rounds
(Miles would run out and bring us down the final stretch)

And, our little tiger was happy to finally be presented with the opportunity to practice his taekwondo outside.
mad skills

happy mama's day to me

Let the festivities begin!

Thanks, Scottie, for the homemade donuts. Man, my baby loves me.
I can hardly even wait for dinner~

Shish your kabob

Scottie and I LOVE shish kabobs.


And, now we know that Miles does too. And for good reason - they're crazy delicious. So, if this tasty dish isn't currently in your line-up, I strongly suggest you give it a starting position. Here's how we do em:

Start with the marinade (we do a homemade teriyaki)- mix up oil, soy sauce, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic & honey. Sorry, no measurements here ... just make it taste good. Then, throw in chicken chunks, whole mushrooms (love em!), onion segments, & chopped bell peppers (zucchini is good, too). Do this in the morning and let it marinade til dinner time. Bring out a can of pineapple (fresh would be better, but definitely not required), then skewer everything and throw it on the grill. We usually serve em with mashed potatoes and a salad ... but, we went for brown rice last night and it was oh so good.

It doesn't get much better

Happy Grilling!!

Berkeley Bound!!

Ready for the big news, sports fans???


That's right, we're Berkeley bound. Scottie will start working on his MBA in August ... and we will be ripped away from lovely Colorado. Excited to get back to the bay area? Yes. But, not so thrilled about leaving all my awesome friends, our beautiful home, and lavish lifestyle. Ok, so it's not that lavish ... but, compared to student family housing, we're practically living royally at the moment. Oh, how I LOVE my dishwasher!!!

Anyway, I love you all and am ready to live it up for one last sumptuous summer!

let's do this

par-tay

So, we had a pretty eventful ward party last weekend. We were among the few who decided to plow through the ridiculous snow storm to get to the church. I had already made a pie, so we figured we pretty much had to go.
They ended up having all sorts of contests ... and Scottie and I just couldn't stay away. I don't know if my fearless hubby fully knew what he was getting himself into when he entered the pie eating contest ...

But he ate and ate and ateand came out the victor!

Given, most of his competition were girls under the age of 12 and small children ... but there were a couple teenage guys in the mix ... I've never been so proud

Miles had a hard time keeping it together while daddy was going to town on his pie. I thought he wanted his dad ... but it turned out he just wanted to have a contest of his own. So, we grabbed some pie and he did the rest.
What a little tiger.

When they pulled out the hula hoops, I knew I had to give it a whirl ... and I won! Again, mostly girls under the age of 12. But, those are the ones with the most recent experience, right? ha! I thought we had all had enough ... then they busted out the limbo stick! Winning a couple contests is a reasonable quota for a family of 3, but I've never been known to pass up the chance to get down. It was awesome. Oh, and sorry, no limbo pics. Surprisingly, a front-on view of bending over backwards is not so flattering.

PS, all you Saddle Rock Wardians ... you better bring it next time.

happy belated easter

All right, folks ... finally I'm getting around to blogging after our Easter getaway. I tell ya, there's nothing better than leaving town for the weekend to postpone my blogging efforts. Anyway, we had a great time in Kansas visiting Scottie's fam. The weather was GORGEOUS on Saturday, then turned rainy on Sunday. So, we enjoyed most of our Easter festivities inside. This was Miles' first Easter egg hunt and he was all about it. He took a little coaxing at first, but quickly got the hang of it and starting searching for eggs like nobody's business. Too cute.

This kiddo ate jelly beans like a maniac with (apparently) no ill side effects later on. I suppose he's steadily been working up his tolerance for sweets and his diligent efforts finally payed off.

LOVED the whole Easter basket thing

We made Cake Pops with Scottie's fam while the kids were napping. No idea what I'm talking about? Check out Bakerella. They were awesome and will definitely be a lasting Easter tradish.

easter cont.

But, my absolute favorite part of the whole weekend was watching Miles interact with his cousins, Haven and Anna.

Haven and Miles played together

Fought together

And hugged it out together (viscous cycle)

Miles also LOVED his little 4 month old cous, Anna (especially when she wasn't squishing him).

Miles' First Snowman

BEFORE...

and AFTER


Those Oreo eyes didn't stand a chance

The Healing Powers of (Hot) Chocolate

I can hardly believe we went from my last sun-shiney post to a wild winter storm in just a few days. I gotta tell ya - I was loving the summer-like temps. But, FINALLY - we got a seriously crazy blizzard. It was wild ... and totally gorgeous. Scottie got off work early and we partied all night. Unfortunately, all the stores were closed yesterday (I really wanted to find some new pillows) ... but we woke up this morning to some beautiful sun shine and a big ol' blanket of snow.
love it

Thankfully, Miles is a good little worker boy and didn't shy away from shoveling

but, when his enthusiasm translated into a slip on the ice and a mildly bloody lip ...

...we ventured inside and mixed up some delish hot chocolate.
After finishing his mug, Miles smiled and said "All better".

good boy

-The End-

LOVIN it

Well, friends, we have been LOVING this weather. We've taken a few trips to the park and it really doesn't get much better than this in March. Well, I suppose Key West would be better ... but let's be realistic here~






I especially like that last pic - you'd think the focus would be on Miles' crazy grin ... but, I was mostly enjoying Scottie's enthusiasm. Love you baby!!

Spring Cleaning at Its Best

So, we were doing a little spring cleaning last week and came across an odd outfit we received from an interesting character at Miles' baby shower in AZ. A nice notion to give us a present? Yes. However, I've always thought we could have lived without her '70s hand-me-down ...

Until Now.

At first, I couldn't believe it had escaped the Good Will pile for so long. I went to throw it in the bag when Scott stopped me. We realized that Miles was at an age where he could finally pull it off (maybe?).

So, we dressed him up, threw in a few sweatbands ... and this is what we created. We just about died laughing all day long.

Back to Reality ...

Well, friends, here are the terribly overdue pics from our (rockin awesome) Key West vaycay.


We arrived at the Key West Marriott Beachside Resort and were thrilled to finally get up to our room. Then, we were double thrilled when we opened the door to our suite. It was wild. To help paint a picture (without posting 10), here's the kitchen in our room. We just about died.



I adore this pic ... little blurry, but just too cute.
what a sweet babes
The only problem was the paparazzi.
They just wouldn't quit harassing our little heart throb.
rough life

The classic family pic


oooooooo, I could really use some more of this right about now ...

Scottie - Thanks again for putting together such an incredible vacation for our little fam!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Wow, I can hardly believe my little rockstar is two! He is such a joy. Interestingly enough, it seems like he is already working past his terrible twos (he hit em early)! I know, I know, there will be many more challenges to come ... but our little Miles is really growing up and learning how to interact with the world around him. I am pleased to say we have been BITE-FREE for a month now. Hallelujah! And, the other day we asked him what he does in church. First he shouted "Play with toys!", then he added "share". Oh, my little pumpkin ...

We love you!!!

Oh, and many of you know that we've been out of town for a couple weeks ... Key West and UT pics to follow ...

When mama gets desperate

I'd like to say that the cookie above is the result of a delightful afternoon of mommy/son baking ... that we worked together to mix the dough and drizzle the frosting. I'd like that. And, I think Miles would have liked that, too. But, he's not complaining about the way things turned out.

Sandwiched between a couple pressing engagements and getting ready for New Beginnings (big night for the Young Women at church), Miles was planned to take a nap so I could make two dozen blue star cookies for that night. When he woke up after only 45 minutes and I had yet to shower and fully frost my cookies, I knew the day was shot. Mommies out there, you know what I'm talking about.

I figure, it's ok ... we'll work this one out. So, I set Miles up with a cookie and a little bowl of frosting. Problem solved. -not so much- He was mad that he couldn't get in my business and work on my cookies. So, I give him the sprinkles. What's the worst that could happen -- a few hundred sprinkles on his high chair tray? -no big deal- Next thing I know, I look over and half the multi-colored sprinkles are all black and clumped at the top of the shaker (from saliva). So, I figure "why not" and take the lid off the sprinkles and let him have a hay day.


It's always interesting to discover what will ensue when mama gets desperate.

At long last-

Well, folks, the wait is over. Scottie and I have finally purchased a bedroom set that we LOVE. It's currently in transit and I can't wait to get our new Master Suite all set up. They said it'd be a couple weeks ... I'm guessing longer. Either way, we're thrilled. Hallelujah!